Author: alaskaadmin

I hope you had some fun this weekend watching NFL preseason games. There were guys out there grinding for jobs, players who might someday emerge as key contributors for the teams where they earn a roster spot. That said, I wasn’t focused on the bubble guys. I was interested in the stars. And some key things were happening this week in the preseason games — and the greater NFL news cycle. This is Sound Smart, where I try to spin forward, dive deeper, think outside the box and read between the lines. The Los Angeles Rams protected Ty Simpson and played it nice and safe. Almost boring, in fact. The first-round quarterback had 84% of his passes travel 15 yards or fewer and 72% for 10 yards or fewer. In the first three quarters, there were a lot of rollouts and passes behind the line of scrimmage so that Simpson barely needed to think — operating the basics and letting everyone else do the work for him. I suspect that’s why coach Sean McVay said the following about the team’s preseason playcaller, Nate Scheelhaase: “I thought the coaches did a really good job putting guys in good spots. I thought [Scheelhaase] called a really good game.” The beauty of a preseason game is that defenses are as simple as can be. That makes life easier for the playcaller and the QB. In the final 10 minutes, Simpson and his coaches started to ramp up the difficulty and use more of the field — with a little more intermediate throwing and some targets toward the middle of the field. Ultimately, he saw pressure on only three of his 25 dropbacks. He had a tight-window throw on 8% of his passes. It looked easy for Simpson because it was very easy for Simpson — a stone’s throw away from 7-on-7 drills. It seems like the reaction has been unanimously positive about Simpson, perhaps because of his statistics. And while I’m excited about his long-term prospects on the whole, I’m not sure I saw anything particularly outstanding. But here’s the thing: At least Simpson played in control. At least he made the easy stuff look easy. Because I can think of somebody who didn’t. I was startled by Ward’s film. I hate to get worked up about preseason film, but I can’t really stop myself here. There was an astonishing lack of accuracy. There was an astonishing lack of … everything. If there’s one thing we know about the preseason, it’s that it’s deeply deceitful. I’ll never forget in 2015 when Sam Bradford absolutely tore apart preseason defenses with former Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly calling the plays. And I thought it meant something. It didn’t. Bradford was a mess and Kelly got fired after going 6-9. With Ward and the Titans, the same (but opposite) can be true here, where the second-year QB’s preseason calamity won’t translate to the regular season. But let’s just look at the numbers, because it’ll help contextualize my alarm. On 12 dropbacks, Ward attempted a tight-window throw on 8% of his passes. (Just like Simpson.) That should speak to an easy day for Ward: no risky or high-difficulty throws. So you’d think he would’ve been completing his passes, right? Wrong! He completed 41.7% of his passes (5-for-12). Even worse, he had a completion percentage over expected of -26.3%, second worst among all 91 passers who took 12 or more dropbacks this first week of preseason. His success percentage (23.1%) was second worst among those same 91 QBs. His expected points per dropback was tied for eighth-worst — alongside Colts QB Anthony Richardson, whose play is currently bad enough that Indianapolis can’t seem to find a trade partner. You’re probably also thinking that maybe Ward didn’t have receivers Carnell Tate, the fourth overall pick this year, or Wan’Dale Robinson, the team’s $70-million free agent acquisition. You’d — again — think wrong. And Tate, whose training-camp highlights have often appeared on the Titans’ X account this summer, saw three targets for zero receptions. This was a tremendously bad outing for Ward. It was also a small sample size — in preseason. But it looked too much like the lowest lows from Ward’s rookie season. I had hoped he was getting past all that. For now, let’s try to chalk it up to preseason. Let’s hope it’s just a whole bunch of nothing. Because, man, what the heck happened out there? LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Chicago Bears might have the most compelling and polarizing passing attack in the NFL (and I’ll have more to say about them in a story later this week). But while Chicago’s rushing attack may get neglected by the media, it has the head coach’s attention. Ben Johnson gets excited anytime he has the opportunity to coach or discuss the ground game. And so it was interesting to hear first-year offensive coordinator Press Taylor relay Johnson’s philosophy on the run game. “I don’t think Ben’s ever mentioned the word efficiency,” Taylor said last week. “We talk about explosives. We are trying to attack a defense. I think there’s a perception — a lot of people are going to run the ball. ‘We’re going to stay efficient. We’re going to control the clock. We are looking to attack a defense.’ “We’re looking to attack fronts to expose space, to create run lanes, to create explosives. We don’t look at the run game as a way to stay on track. We look at the run game as a way to attack defenses and really be explosive and continue to just put our foot on the gas.” All eyes are on quarterback Caleb Williams, whose flair for late-game heroics was incredible last season. He’s a former No. 1 overall pick, and his arm talent is otherworldly. He has the rare ability to generate explosive plays at any moment. And while we don’t often think about D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai in the same way, it seems like Taylor and Johnson would like us to. The 2026 season will be about further establishing that identity. FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Despite not having the new contract that he wants, Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez had been a willing participant in training camp. In fact, his presence had been infuriating newcomer A.J. Brown — to the point where the star receiver admitted he was looking forward to joint practices because the competition was getting too fierce between teammates. The underlying takeaway is that Gonzalez is among the best cornerbacks in the league. (And from my vantage point, he’s the best.) He should get paid as such. But when those joint practices started last week, Gonzalez was not on the field. It sure seemed like that was the cornerback’s first flex of leverage in his contract negotiations with the team. And he didn’t stop there. He wasn’t on the field for the team’s first preseason matchup against the Colts at Gillette Stadium. Patriots coach Mike Vrabel addressed Gonzalez’s absence. “Christian was unavailable — physically unavailable for the practice. That’s the clarification,” Vrabel told reporters after the team’s preseason game. “Just like other players that I told to have treatment, and everybody has a plan here, there were other guys that were in that same category.” The “clarification” is still quite vague. And that’s often how it goes when a player is holding in. If there was anything that would further entrench Gonzalez, it was the news that Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon, represented by the same agent, Reggie Johnson, signed a $132-million, four-year deal. New England’s defense can’t afford to start the season without Gonzalez. The Patriots will need their best defensive player on the field when they kick off the NFL season in a rematch against Seattle on Sept. 9. They need to get a deal done. And it’ll probably have to be a deal that’s more lucrative than what Witherspoon got. EAGAN, Minn. — This was one heck of a statement from Vikings cornerback Byron Murphy about six-time Pro Bowl safety Harrison Smith, who retired after last season. “I would say obviously having Harry [Harrison Smith] back there, a guy who’s gonna probably tell you every single play that’s coming — it’s been different [not having him],” Murphy said at the Vikings’ practice facility in Eagan last week. “But obviously, we got guys stepping in. We got communicators like 44 [Josh Metellus], even the young guys are stepping in. So we got guys that still are communicators.” Minnesota’s defense is still incredible, starting at the top with DC Brian Flores, who seems destined to — sooner or later — find his way back into a head coaching position. Flores has been no less ruthless this camp, doing what he can to terrorize the two quarterbacks — and amping up the degree of difficulty, with help from stars like edge rusher Dallas Turner, as each QB tries to prove himself. Two weeks ago, I saw firsthand how quickly Flores’ defense can shut down the Vikings’ offense, with both Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy failing to complete a single pass in the 2-minute drill. Murray’s offense went three-and-out and McCarthy threw an interception. Even so, Smith won’t be an easy guy to replace. And you get the sense that maybe they won’t have to. There have been rumors about a possible Smith return, but Minnesota isn’t counting on it. Instead, they’re counting on Metellus, who’s beginning his seventh year with Minnesota. “It’s crazy, man, to be following after a guy for so many years,” Metellus told me. “And then you get to a position where you follow him so much that you just like step into his road, almost naturally.”​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

The Baltimore Orioles sold at the deadline, are under .500 … and would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. That’s the current state of affairs in the underwhelming American League, where five teams are fewer than two games behind the Orioles for the final playoff spot. Every AL team other than the Royals, A’s and Angels still feels like it’s in contention. That’s not the case in the National League, where three teams with winning records (Arizona, Miami, St. Louis) are chasing the final wild-card spot, which currently belongs to San Diego. All of those playoff hopefuls will need a late-season spark plug in order to make an October run. In this week’s Power Rankings, we identify one player from every team worth watching down the stretch. The Angels decided to keep Zach Neto at the deadline, but he has a .489 OPS since the break. It’s hard to envision the team taking strides forward until it gets its shortstop on track. It’d be fun to see Bryce Eldridge go on a late-season tear to bring some hope for the future in what has been a lost season in San Francisco. The rookie has 13 homers in 81 games. The A’s were never going to do much with Nick Kurtz, Shea Langeliers, Brent Rooker and Tyler Soderstrom all injured, but they certainly weren’t expecting right fielder Lawrence Butler to be a below replacement level player in the second season of his seven-year extension. He has looked better lately, so maybe he can turn it around. Could Zac Veen be a post-hype sleeper down the stretch? After raking in 100 games at Triple-A (.327/.402/.635), the Rockies outfielder is already providing a spark in his first four games back in the big leagues. As bad as things have gone in Kansas City, Jac Caglianone is on fire in August. The 23-year-old is slashing .407/.429/.759 with nine extra-base hits and 18 RBIs in 14 games this month as he continues his breakout. Elly De La Cruz is 7-for-51 (.137) with one stolen base in August. The Reds need him to get back to being a dynamic force down the stretch if they want to challenge for a playoff spot. It took until August, but the Mets are finally playing some ball. A significant part of that is the uptick from Bo Bichette, who is starting to resemble the player the Mets envisioned. The Mariners mustered a big series win in Houston, but their road back to relevance won’t get any easier as their next three series are against the Brewers, Cubs and Phillies. Julio Rodríguez is heating up, and one of his annual late-season surges might be the only thing that can save Seattle. Acquired as part of the Mackenzie Gore trade with the Rangers, 24-year-old first baseman Abimelec Ortiz has five home runs in his first 13 games. Is Royce Lewis … back? The 27-year-old infielder has an OPS over 1.000 in August. After years of injuries, it would be a joy to see the former top overall pick find the form that made him such a captivating young talent a few seasons ago. Unmoved by their deadline additions, the Guardians are 9-19 to start the second half, and José Ramírez hasn’t looked like himself since returning from his hamate fracture last month. The Guardians aren’t going to do much if Ramírez is a league-average hitter. You simply can’t drop back-to-back series against the Angels and A’s when you’re trying to be taken seriously as a contender. Wyatt Langford, who had a 1.005 OPS in June and an .819 OPS in July, has a .597 OPS in August. The Rangers need to get him going again. All eyes are on Paul Skenes as he tries to right the ship. Pittsburgh’s ace has a 5.62 ERA since the start of July, and the Pirates have won just three of his past 13 starts. Skenes’ velocity is down, he just threw 65 pitches in his last start, and he had his next start pushed back. Those are all ominous signs, but maybe he can figure it out in time to save Pittsburgh’s season. They don’t have Adley Rutschman or Taylor Ward anymore, but they still have the Polar Bear. Pete Alonso is hitting .380 with four homers in August and giving the Orioles a chance to sneak into the playoffs even after their deadline selloff. Framber Valdez signed a three-year, $115 million deal that gave him the highest average annual value of any left-handed pitcher in the sport, but his performances all year have been marred by inconsistency. The Tigers need Valdez to get in more of a rhythm with Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize gone. Their spectacular pitching has the Blue Jays still dreaming of October baseball. The offense, meanwhile, has been the worst in the American League. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. can’t be a below league-average hitter all season, right? … RIGHT? Considering how thin their rotation is — they rank 28th in starters ERA — the Astros can’t afford for Hunter Brown (3.67 ERA) to simply be solid. Free passes continue to be a problem that he’ll need to figure out quickly. Since returning from a leg injury in June, Eury Pérez has a 1.80 ERA over his past 10 starts. When Perez and Sandy Alcantara are pitching the way they are now, the Marlins have a chance against anyone. Rookie Joshua Báez, who just became the first player ever to homer in each of his first three at-bats, is already helping jump-start a Cardinals offense that had the lowest OPS in the sport in July. We know the Phillies’ top three starters give them a chance against any team they’ll see in October. But if they want to make it there, they’ll need to win some of the other games, too. On that note, Aaron Nola has a 2.91 ERA over his past four starts. The seemingly indomitable Red Sox have suddenly dropped seven of their past nine games and have scored more than four runs just once in that stretch. Adley Rutschman is 1-for-17 to start his Boston career, which obviously has to change if the Red Sox want to make a run. (Of course, getting Roman Anthony, who’s been out since early May with a finger injury, back for the stretch will also help.) The White Sox put a ton of faith in Luis Castillo to turn his season around when they traded for him at the deadline. In two starts with his new club, Castillo has already provided fodder for the believers (7 IP, 0 R, 10 K) and the doubters (4 IP, 5 R, 5 K). With the return dates for injured starters Zac Gallen, Ryne Nelson and Corbin Burnes unclear, what Brandon Pfaadt is doing right now is invaluable. He has a 1.09 ERA over his last eight starts and hasn’t allowed an earned run in any of his past four starts. The answer here is obviously Aaron Judge, whenever he gets back. For now, the Yankees can enjoy the spark provided by rookie George Lombard Jr., who’s giving them reason to get excited about the shortstop position again. Sweeping the Brewers? You have my attention, San Diego. The Padres have had the best offense in baseball since the break, and Jackson Merrill has looked a lot more like the phenom who gave Paul Skenes a run for his Rookie of the Year Award two years ago. After dropping three of four to the Brewers, the Dodgers are now 5-10 in August and 18-21 since the start of July. I’m putting the focus here on both of their major offseason additions: Edwin Díaz has a 10.66 ERA and has blown three of his past five save opportunities, while Kyle Tucker can’t hit at home. As talented as the Dodgers are, one of those two has to get right by season’s end if they want to three-peat. After a pedestrian start to the year, Alex Bregman has been MLB’s most valuable third baseman since the All-Star break. The Cubs are going to be hard to stop if Bregman continues hitting like this. The Braves have enjoyed this bounce-back campaign despite Austin Riley enduring the worst offensive season of his eight-year career. However, Riley has a .957 OPS in August. Can he keep it up? The Rays won nine straight games on the road before returning home to welcome the Orioles, who then took three straight at Tropicana Field. One of those losses went to Freddy Peralta, who remains in search of his old form. The two-time All-Star’s past two starts (10.2 IP, 5 R) were at least an improvement on his Rays debut disaster (3.2 IP, 7 R). After getting swept in San Diego, the Brewers had a statement series win in L.A. while playing without Brice Turang, who might need to manage his knee pain the rest of the year. Getting William Contreras going feels vital. The standout catcher has a meager .604 OPS in the second half, but he homered on Saturday and reached base twice Sunday.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports